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Up & Out Foundation Takes On Addiction

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Deb Spalding
Korey Shorb of Emmitsburg has been “down and out.”As a former heroin addict, he was so far down that he lied to his family, stole from others, started dealing drugs, went to jail, and then to prison. He repeated those same shaming behaviors over and over again. It was a cycle during which he used, “Any drug you can think of — I shot it, smoked it, ate it. The first heroin high is the best; the addiction is when you keep trying to capture that high feeling, but after the first time, the high is lower. We are enslaved. You can never recapture that first high again.” He feels that heroin has changed in the past few years. People are bypassing weed and alcohol and going straight for the hard stuff, the stuff that will kill you quickly.

Korey has been drug-free for the past eight years. He got “up and out” of his addiction. “The opiate addiction problem is killing our communities,” he said. Therefore, in an effort to help others recover, and to possibly prevent addictive behavior, he started an organization he dubbed, The Up & Out Foundation.

About the organization, he said, “Originally it was to give money back to the Drug Courts Program out of Frederick. To people recovering, it’s a big deal to graduate from the program. It’s hard work to get through the program, but Drug Courts are designed for people like me. They need a reward. Not everybody has someone. It’s important to help.”
Funds generated from Up & Out’s Run for Recovery, paint nights, quarter auctions, and other events, help recovering addicts pay for resources that will help them. For example, when you’re down and out, the $400 or $500 admission fee to a Recovery House to begin recovery is hard to get; the $100 copay for the monthly Vivitrol shot that will render opiate effects useless is hard to pay. It shouldn’t be hard to find resources when recovery gets tough.

“Up & Out helps to get people off the habits that could kill them. Relapse does not have to be a part of recovery. There’s someone who can help you,” explained Korey.
Up & Out offers that lifeline for help. They’ll help navigate the resources, and help you gain access to different programs.

The Frederick County Health Department is a great resource. They can help with prevention, awareness, substance use, and mental health. They assess people and refer them where they feel is appropriate. They also have a recovery center in Emmitsburg, and one located in Frederick, which are great for people in recovery who may not choose to go to a twelve-step program.

Since its conception in 2014, Up & Out is growing because there’s a need. Melissa Wetzel, a CPA in Emmitsburg, helped to start the organization, and Korey paid out of his pocket to obtain the organization’s 501(c)3 non-profit designation.

Meanwhile, Korey started a much-needed job through the Fredrick County Health Department. He works with the Drug Court program and the Frederick County Parole & Probation Office.

“If you would have told me eight years ago that I’d be working in the probation office that I used to report to, and that my former probation officer would be working right across the hall from me, I would have said you’re crazy!” Korey added, “I suit up and let God do the rest. While I was in jail, my mom would write at the bottom of her letters: ‘Pray Korey, there’s power in prayer.’ I used to think prayer was a sign of weakness. I know today that prayer is where my strength comes from.”

Korey speaks about the mission of Up & Out. He’s spoken to high school students, to college students, to juvenile delinquency classes, clubs, and churches, and to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. He found his niche in public speaking. “I know what it’s like to be in high school and feel different, and not be able to talk about it.”
The Youthful Offenders program through the Frederick County States Attorneys Office is a place where at-risk youth can get help. They can be referred to the program by a parent, an officer, a friend, or a family member, for help with any at-risk behavior.

“Everyone will have a different road to recovery,” Korey emphasized. He was stubborn. He needed consequences behind his actions. He feels that our society is babying addicts too much. “They have to sit in jail and use that time to think. My dad didn’t let me manipulate, and he made me accountable for my actions. My mom nearly loved me to death. She was borrowing money from friends and getting bank loans to ‘help’ me.”

Korey strongly advises family members to, “Let them sit in jail, don’t bail them out; don’t pick up the phone if you can’t say no. They can get help while they’re in jail.” The Fredrick County Detention Center has a designated block for substance-abuse treatment.

Korey feels that an addict will never stay clean until they change their thinking. “If nothing changes, nothing changes. Drugs are still winning.”

There is a science called Neuroplasticity. This is basically retraining a person’s thinking. You CAN teach an old dog new tricks. The process is very difficult because it’s uncomfortable. But, from Korey’s experience, it is spot-on for people getting clean and staying clean, by using coping skills when the craving comes to use opiates again. He’s not anti-medication, but he feels that medication does not fix addiction or alcoholism. “Medication is a symptom dampener. We still have to address the addiction. An addict thinks they’re going to get on some type of medication-assisted treatment, but not change the way they live. For me, not using drugs and alcohol was a very small piece of the puzzle. I had no clue, until I got sober, but then realized that I had to change the way that I live my life. Until we change our thinking, we will always recycle our experiences.”

In 2014, Sue Hood created a documentary that can be viewed on Vimeo and Youtube called “Running for Recovery.” The video is an educational tool for schools, churches, and recovery centers.

Eventually, Korey wants to open a recovery house, and he’d like to start a running club. For now, Up & Out is a way to give back to the community and help people. “Just because someone struggled with addiction or might have done time in jail, it doesn’t mean their life is over. If they get clean, their life is just beginning.”
korey
Korey Shorb, founder of Up & Out Foundation, is shown in front of the Frederick County Courthouse.

Catoctin’s War On Drugs

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Ashley McGlaughlin

More and more families are experiencing the loss of a loved one to drug abuse. The drugs being abused could be street drugs, or even prescribed narcotics from doctors. There is a wide range of reasons why people hurt themselves by doing this. Some intend to experiment ‘just once’, but end up becoming addicted forever. While “high” on drugs, you most likely have a different personality. It is completely horrible for a child, or a parent, to see their family member act differently because they choose to use these drugs. It is heart breaking, especially because this is something the abuser can control. We, meaning each and every one of us, need to take action now!

Peer pressure, personal problems, and even a reliance on something that is supposed to help us—pain killers—can lead a person to turn to drug abuse. We may be related to someone who is already demonstrating the example of substance abuse, we may see it on television, or we may be a friend of someone who is exhibiting the example. Peer pressure shows us that sometimes the people using drugs may appear to be popular or admired, so we try to do the same thing so we can also be admired and popular and accepted by others.

Painkillers are prescribed from a doctor, but the patient could easily take more than what they’re supposed to, trying to ease their pain. This leads to the patient’s painkillers running out, causing them to withdraw. Symptoms of withdrawal from drugs include aching joints, nausea, hot flashes, and even a short temper. The prescription pain pill abuser may feel so disturbed when they run out of their prescription, that they actually go buy illegal substances like heroine to ease their pain and cravings. Sometimes, without even realizing it, this becomes a recurring cycle every time their prescription runs out. Soon, this one mistake leads to a life time of disappointment.

By being addicted to heroin, cocaine, LSD, or even methamphetamine, whole families are impacted. Buying drugs is a waste of money, when the money runs out, the addiction causes financial stress. Soon, the abuser is using the cheap drugs to maintain their high. Street drugs that consist of unnatural materials that we put in our bodies will break down our natural body functions because our bodies don’t know what to do with the pollution we put in it.  Drug abuse is at an all-time high.  Couple that with the fact that the drugs on the streets are more deadly than ever, and we have a huge problem that has some impact on each and every member of our community.

At a Mackenzie’s Light Bereavement and Awareness Support Group meeting at the Thurmont Library in September, a father of a Thurmont girl who died from a heroin overdose said, “It [her death] blind-sided me! I thought she was drinking and I might get a call to come pick her up somewhere. But, I had no idea that she was into anything harder.” His daughter was a talented 20-year-old with a sunny personality. Like this father, your loved ones could be doing drugs without your knowledge. Your children could be taken away if you are a parent or a guardian who is found abusing these drugs. This affects your own children you have raised and the entire family unit.

There are children under the age of ten years old that have seen more drugs around them than what a grown man has seen. These children get placed in unfamiliar places like foster care, which changes their lives forever. Some don’t even get away from the drugs, they grow up thinking drugs aren’t that bad, so they also become addicted. It becomes a way of life and coping for them.

Here in our home towns, there have been multiple cases of heroin overdose, death, and other drug abuses. If you are using drugs, this is the time to stop, and to change your life. You don’t realize it while you’re under the influence, but every decision has a consequence, and it affects more people than you think. All of our lives involve choices and we all make hundreds of choices on a daily basis. Communication, observation, awareness, support, and sometimes even policing are of utmost importance.

Mackenzie’s Light Bereavement and Awareness Support Group meets monthly at the Thurmont Library. People impacted in any way by addiction are invited to attend. At the next meeting, Thurmont’s Police Chief, Greg Eyler, will talk about the statistics of suicide resulting from addiction. Stop by on Monday, October 27, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. Also, during this meeting, a recovering alcoholic parent will talk about grieving the loss of their child who committed suicide related to drug addiction. These are real problems, real losses, real people. Please call 301-524-8064 for more information or check them out on Facebook.

Project Hope in Thurmont, helps youth with positive reinforcement.  They are an anti-drug group with the goal of helping addicts find whatever resources that are available to help them get into recovery.  Project Hope will be there as a support team for anyone who needs help. Check them out on Facebook or read about them in this issue.

Our local health department is another source of help. If the individual is on state insurance through medical assistance in Frederick County, mental health and substance abuse is covered under that policy. Our local rehabilitation center accepts that insurance (i.e. United Health Care, Amerigroup, Riverside, Priority Partners, and Maryland Physicians Care) for inpatient treatment of substance abuse, to educate and assist addicts with the withdrawal process, as well as train them to deal with addiction as an illness.

All walks of life are affected by this disease.